SDSS-IV MaNGA: Testing the Metallicity Distribution across the Merging Sequence

Interactions and mergers have been known as key scenarios to enhance global star formation rates and to lower the metal content of galaxies. However, little is known on how interactions affect the spatial distribution of gas metallicities. Thanks to the SDSS-IV MaNGA survey we are able to statistically constrain the impact of interactions across the optical distributions of galaxies. In this study, we compare the radial distribution of the ionized gas metallicity from a sample of 329 interacting objects - covering different interaction stages - with a statistical robust control sample. Our results suggest that galaxies close to coalesce tend to have flat, lower metallicities than non-interacting star-forming galaxies.